Illuminated car-sign.



PATEN TED JUNE H. F. BRISTOL & G. W. D. UPTON.

ILLUMINATED GAR SI GN. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1903.

HORACE F. BRISTOL AND GEORGE W. D. UPTON, OF SPRINGFIELD i MASSACHUSETTS.

Patented June 23, 1903.

ILLUMINATED CAR-SIGN.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,749, dated June 23, 19 03.. Application filed January 30,1903i Serial No. 141,096. (No model.)

Toall zu/f'wm it may concern:

Be itknown that we, HORACE F. BRISTOL and GEORGE W. D. UPTON, citizens of the and has for its object the construction of a casing for signs of this character whereby many defectsthereof as now constructed and which operate to prevent their more general adoption may be done away with. In signs of this [character as heretofore constructed within our knowledge efforts have been more especially directed to the improvement of the mechanism of the sign and its illumination rather than to constructive features which make a sign of practical use. This applies more especially to signs of thiskind which are for use on electric cars which may be sent, as occasion requires, over any one of many different routes, and it is to this class of signs'theimprovements described and claimed herein are especially directed, and particularly to signs onwhich the names to be displayed are printed on a flexible curtain wound from one roll to another to bring into View the one desired to properly designate the destination of the car. In practice it has been foundnecessaryin order to render these signs acceptable, first, that inside illumina tion should be abolished, because the heat from the lamps injures the curtain on which theletters are applied, causing the paint to crack and peel off when the curtain is wound around the rolls, and, second, that the curtains should be made quickly removable, to

the end that any curtain should be made applicable to anycar, the casing of course being permanently attached to the car, and, lastly, in many cases route-indicating signals are frequently demanded by users of these signs for night use, which have usually been applied in the form of separate colored lights at the side or on the front of the car.

Having theseends in view, the invention consists in the construction to be described in the following specification and clearly summarized in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sign-box embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 2 2, Fig. 1; and Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views of each end of the sign-box longitudinally of the latter, certain parts being broken away in Fig. 3 to more clearly illustrate the construction. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of apiece which constitutes one of the bearings for a curtainsupporting roll.

Referring to'Figs. 1 and 2, it is seen that the sign-box forming the subject of this application consists, essentially, of a structure the main body of which is substantially rectangular, the upper side of Which-iscovered by a hood substantially dome-like in crosssection, one edge of which extends well beyond one of the verticalsides of the box.

The body of this box may be indicated by a and the hood by 12. Preferably this hood is a continuation of the back side of the box, which is made of sheet metal and is secured along its bottom edge to a bottom board a. The closure for the front side of the box consists of a metal frame d, which extends from the bottom, where it, like the back, is secured to the bottom board 0, theupper portion of this frame reaching up to the under side of the hood I), as shown in said Fig. 2. This frame (1 has a rectangular opening therein, which is indicated by e and which is coveredbya glass f, suitable grooves being formed in the frame around said opening to receive the glass. The back of the box is screwed to the bottom board 0 and to two metal end pieces g, and the frame (1 is secured removably to these end pieces and to the bottom board by means of screws g the screws h entering the bottom board 0. The end pieces g are made, preferably, of cast-iron, and lugs g are cast on the edge thereof, which are drilled and tapped out to receive the screws g which secure the back of the box and the hood to the end pieces, the upper end of the latter being curved and extending outwardly from the face of the box, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. That portion of said frame which extends up under the hood is secured to the box above the top of the glass. Therefore if the screws 9 and h along the sides and bottom of the framing be loosened the entire front of the box, with the glass f therein, may be removed, thus exposing to view'the interior thereof.

Preferably, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, electric lamps 'L' are supported under the hood I), and suitable supports for these lamps are provided by securing a board or other suitable support j along the upper edge of the frame or front closure of the box, to which segment-shaped pieces may be secured, having substantially the form of the hood in cross-section and incidentally serving as a support therefor between its ends, the lamps "i being secured in the usual sockets to either side of said pieces 70, as shown in Fig. 1. Located centrally between the ends of the hood I) a vertical frame m is provided, which extends from the lower edge of the hood to a point level with the top of the latter, and from the top of the hood to the upper edge of this frame a portion of the hood is carried over to the frame to inclose properly the space in the hood back of this frame, the sides of the latter being also closed. This frame m is adapted to receive plates n of glass of any desired color, and while in the drawings said frame is divided into two parts only, as by the partition 0, it may be divided into several, should more than two colors be required to designate a route. The lamps 'i thus serve the double purpose of illuminating the front of the sign and at the same time illuminating the route-indicating colored-glass plates a.

Two parallel rolls p and q are supported in the opposite endsg ot' the box. The lower roll (1 has fixed bearings and is not removably mounted in the box, one end of the axis of this roll passing through the end of the box and being by means of bevel-gears 7 connected with a shaft 8, which may be rotated to rotate the roll q, whereby the curtain t, on which names may be printed to show the destination of cars, may be unwound from the roll p and wound onto the lower roll, and vice versa. The roll 19 is a springroller, constructed in the usual manner and adapted to be arrested in its rotatory movement by a pawl hung on the roll and adapted to engage the shaft for the roll which is held stationary. This roll being a regular article of commerce, it is unnecessary to describe it. This roll 19 at one end thereof is supported on a screw it, and at its opposite end the spring-shaft on which it turns and which is lettered o constitutes its other support. This spring-shaft o in turn is supported in a casting, which is shown in detail in Fig. 5 and lettered '10. On one end of this casting is a cylindrical boss 00, which is axially pierced by a rectangular hole y, which receives the end of the spring-shaft 12, which is also substantially rectangular in cross-section. The boss mfits snugly into a hole in the end piece 9 of the box made to receive it, and by 7 means of a screw passing through the hole a in the other end of said casting w the latter is secured to the end of the box. If for any reason it isdesired to alter the tension of the spring in the roll 13, the casting to may be removed after said roll has come to a stop, and by means of a suitable key which may be fitted on the shaft 1; the tension of the spring within the roller d may be adjusted. This is of very great convenience and saves opening the box.

If for any reason it is desired to shift the curtain t from one car to another which is to run over the route indicated by the names on that curtain, the front at of the box may be removed and the roll qrotated to permit the curtain to wind up on the roller 19, whereupon the screw u may be loosened, and the screw which holds the casting w may be also loosened more or less, whereupon it will be found that one end of the roll 19 may be dropped and the shaft 1) of the other end be withdrawn from the casting w. A new roll 19, having a different series of names thereon, may be put into its place in a few moments, the end of the curtain tbeing passed around the roll q and the latter given a few turns to insure the proper engagement of the curtain with the roll.

From the foregoing description it is clear that the invention provides a box for an illuminated sign which possesses none of the objections of signs as at present constructed and provides a construction whereby the proper illumination of the letters on the curtain may be effected without injury to the latter, providing also means for quickly changing a roll in the box if a car is to be shifted from one route to another, and provides means for indicating the route of the car at night embodied in the sign and forming a structural part thereof and illuminated by the same means used for the sign.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isr 1. An illuminated sign-box consisting of a body substantially rectangular in cross-section, and a hood for the upper side thereof projecting beyond one of the vertical sides of said body and constituting a covering for illuminating means.

2. An illuminated sign-box consisting of a body substantially rectangular in cross-section, two parallel rolls mounted longitudinally in said body, one of which is removably supported therein, a hood for the upperside of the body projecting beyond one of the vertical sides thereof, said side having an opening therein through which a sign may be exposed, and illuminating means under the projecting side of said hood.

3. A box for illuminated signs consisting of a 'body substantially rectangular in crosssection, the latter having two end pieces whose upper portions project beyond one side thereof, and a back portion for the body extendingfrom the lower edge of said end pieces oversaid projecting upper portions to constitute a hood for one of the vertical sides of the box; aframe having an opening therein in which a sign may be exposed, said frame being removably secured to that side of the box under the hood, illuminating means under the hood, and route-indicating devices located on the hood.

4. The combination with a box for illuminated signs having abody substantially rectangular in cross-section, and illuminating means located outside the box, of two curtain- 3 bearing rolls mounted in the box, bearings for 5 the rolls locatedat the ends of the box, and

a means operable from a point outside of the box to release one of said rolls from its bearin s.

3. An illuminated sign-box,and a hood projecting beyond one of the vertical sides there- 20 of, a curtain-bearing spring-actuated roll removably supported at the ends of the box, a

bearing for one end of said r011, supported in an opening extending through the end of the box, said bearing being removable from out-' 25 side the latter.

HORACE F. BRISTOL. GEORGE W. D. UPT'ON.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, H. A. CHAPIN. 

